The second "Rwandan" trial that opened in Brussels on 9 May failed to attract the crowd of impassioned spectators who had gathered for the judgement of the Butare Four in 2001. This time, two small-time businessmen appeared in the dock, a successful beer wholesaler and his half-brother, the patron of a street bar and local bus company. Both are accused of actively participating in the execution of the genocide in the prefecture of Kibungo.

On 9 May, four years after the trial of the "Butare four", Belgium reopened the Rwandan genocide file with the trial of two businessmen from Kibungo, Étienne Nzabonimana and Samuel Ndashikirwa. Other proceedings are expected to follow, including the long-awaited trial of Major Bernard Ntuyahaga, suspected of involvement in the death of ten Belgian peacekeepers in Kigali on 7 April 1994. But the most secret and spectacular of all is the pending trial of a certain Ephrem Nkezabera, former banker and a member of the national committee of the Interahamwe militia.

At the end of the Brussels trial of the two Rwandan businessmen accused of war crimes, the outcome was far from cut and dried. While the die was cast for Etienne Nzabonimana after the defence wrapped up its case on 24 June, lawyers representing Samuel Ndashyikirwa were still waiting to plead on the 27th. The verdict is expected on June 29.

As the trial of the two Rwandan businessmen reaches its third week before the Brussels criminal court, Ephrem Nkezabera, a former banker and Interahamwe leader, presented a detailed financial portrait of his once "model" client, Etienne Nzabonimana, the main defendant in the dock.

On September 11, the Court of Assises in Brussels awarded 575,070 euros in reparation to 21 Rwandan civil parties out of nearly 150 represented at the trial of Major Bernard Ntuyahaga. On July 5, Ntuyahaga was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murder of 10 Belgian UN peacekeepers at the start of the genocide in Kigali. However, the Rwandan victims are not about to receive their compensation award any time soon.